248
votes
Accepted
Has the 9th Circuit Court been overturned 80% of the time?
Summary
It depends on your interpretation of the claim.
Were 80% of all 9th Circuit Court decisions overturned? NO, not even close.
Were 80% of the small minority of 9th Circuit Court decisions that ...
- 1,859
246
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to own a rabbit in Queensland unless you're a magician?
From Queensland's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries brochure Can I have a pet rabbit?,
Why are pet rabbits illegal in Queensland?
Rabbits are Australia's most destructive agricultural ...
- 2,588
180
votes
Accepted
Did Amazon pay $0 in US taxes in 2018?
When Bernie Sanders claimed Amazon didn't pay federal income taxes in 2017, Snopes wrote a helpful article:
In regards to U.S. federal income taxes, the claim that Amazon paid none in 2017 is almost ...
- 23.5k
155
votes
Accepted
Does the Constitution of Bhutan state that 60% of Bhutan must be forested?
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Article 5, paragraph 3:
The Government shall ensure that, in order to conserve the
country’s natural resources and to prevent degradation of the
...
- 7,990
155
votes
Accepted
In Massachusetts, can someone be "arrested and fined up to fifty-thousand dollars" for reporting suspicious behavior in a women's bathroom?
The claim grossly misrepresents the details of the law
TL;DR $50,000 is the maximum amount someone could be liable for due to egregious and repeated discrimination on account of gender identity, and ...
- 1,646
154
votes
Are US workers legally required to pay income taxes?
The IRS has a section of their website, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments dedicated to explaining the flaws of popular incorrect arguments of why taxes don't have to be paid.
Specifically, it ...
tim♦
- 50.6k
144
votes
Accepted
Was the Holocaust legal?
According to the Nazis' definition of "legal", it was.
According to the Führerprinzip in Nazi Germany, Hitler was above the law by definition. His directives were statutory orders, i.e. law -...
- 18.9k
126
votes
Accepted
Are there vaccine ingredients which may not be disclosed ("hidden", "trade secret", or similar)?
TL;DR: In the US and the EU, vaccine manufacturers are required to disclose all ingredients within the vaccine on vaccine packaging inserts available online alphabetically and European public ...
- 14k
121
votes
Was a Canadian father jailed for referring to his trans son as his daughter?
Reliable information about this case is hard to find because there is a publication ban on the family identity and on discussion of the child's gender change. However here is a reliable report which I ...
- 54.8k
111
votes
Accepted
Did Abner Schoenwetter spend 6.5 years in jail because he used plastic bags instead of cardboard boxes when importing lobsters from Honduras?
To summarize: Honduras has regulations about what lobsters can be fished (to prevent over-exploitation). The defendants knowingly broke these regulations and then tried to hide their illegal ...
- 23.5k
110
votes
Is there a death penalty if you jump off a building (and don't die) in New York?
No, New York does not have the death penalty.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center:
In 1995 newly-elected Governor George Pataki fulfilled a campaign promise and signed legislation ...
- 134k
109
votes
Was Paul Manafort exonerated for the crimes he’s now charged with?
No, that's chronologically impossible, because some of the alleged crimes were committed less than 8 years ago.
The charges against Manafort are specified in this indictment. Many of the charges ...
- 7,990
108
votes
Accepted
Was it ever illegal to name a pig "Napoleon" in France?
According to this article (French), there has never been such a law in French codes, but the rumor is persistent over time.
It seems that it all come from the censorship of George Orwell's Animal ...
- 1,681
100
votes
Accepted
Did Canada "mandate the content of voluntary speech"?
No, Peterson is wrong on all points
Quick background: Jordan Peterson is employed at the University of Toronto, in Ontario. This is important because that determines which laws he operates under in ...
- 11k
99
votes
Accepted
Is it "perfectly legal" to walk topless in New York City?
Yes it is perfectly legal.
This is based on the Santorelli case, in which Ramona Santorelli was arrested for baring in public "that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola". She ...
- 54.8k
95
votes
Accepted
Does New York City legally recognize 31 different genders?
I would like to present the same evidence as DavePhD's answer, but with a different summary of what it indicates.
In summary:
NYC recognises 3 genders on Birth Certificates (M, F, and X)
The number ...
- 6,499
94
votes
Accepted
Does saying "sorry" after an accident count as legal admission of fault?
I focused on the US for this answer. An apology does not automatically lead to the party being found guilty:
The apology may not be admissible in court (but the laws are complicated, as usual).
When ...
- 23.5k
94
votes
Accepted
Is Alberta ending coronavirus restrictions because of failing to provide evidence of SARS-COV2 virus existence in court?
Short version:
Mr. King is misrepresenting the words of a document he received in an ongoing court case against him. He misconstrues the document to mean there is no proof that the virus causing ...
- 4,553
92
votes
Accepted
Does Lebanon ban the diary of Anne Frank?
To prevent confusion, I will highlight the definition of the verb ban from Google:
officially or legally prohibit (something).
The Lebanese American University's libraries (largest libraries in ...
- 29.8k
90
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to shoot groups of Native Americans in some US States?
Even if such a law were still on the books somewhere in the U.S., it would be superseded by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which states (emphasis added):
Section 1: All ...
- 4,099
89
votes
Can you have your lunch at your work-desk in France?
Yes, it is illegal for an employer to let an employee eat at their desk.
Article R4228-19
It is forbidden to allow workers to take their meals in the premises assigned to work.
It is the employer's ...
- 1,681
86
votes
Accepted
Will the 2019 EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market ban memes?
BBC's coverage explains how that might happen:
Jim Killock, executive director of the UK's Open Rights Group, told the BBC: "Article 13 will create a 'Robo-copyright' regime, where machines zap ...
- 52.5k
85
votes
Accepted
Does Lincoln County, Oregon require only white people to wear masks?
Lincoln county has published this statement:
In this Directive there were several exceptions identified recognizing that not everyone could or should wear a face covering: ...
People of color who ...
- 2,072
83
votes
Accepted
Did Hillary Clinton propose to punish flag burners in 2005?
The proposed law co-sponsored by Clinton in 2005 prohibits flag burning under specific circumstances. It does not attempt to make flag burning illegal in general (i.e. outside of those specific ...
- 10.2k
77
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal for regular US citizens to possess or read the Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks?
In current U.S. case law, it might be illegal to publish stolen documentary material, but prior case law rules it legal if the material is "of great public concern", which I think most media would ...
- 40.5k
77
votes
Is there a death penalty if you jump off a building (and don't die) in New York?
All laws related to attempted suicide in the State of New York were repealed before 1964. If the law had existed before then, it was never used.
Any laws against suicide that may have existed were ...
- 21.8k
74
votes
Has the 9th Circuit Court been overturned 80% of the time?
According to the American Bar Association article Supreme Court Reversal Rates:
Evaluating the Federal Courts of Appeals:
The reversal rates in Figure 2 range between 55% and
84%. Interestingly, this ...
- 99.4k
71
votes
Did 64,000 married Indian men take their own lives in 2012 after charges of domestic abuse?
It seems highly unlikely. The person making the claim claims there are about 64,000 suicides every year, "due to alleged misuse of section 498a of IPC against them."
He then goes on to quote the ...
- 9,388
68
votes
Is it legal to shoot groups of Native Americans in some US States?
This 2005 Keloland news article tackles the claims about South Dakota, especially Spearfish, South Dakota.
It showed there was no such law in Spearfish.
Spearfish Mayor Jerry Krambeck said, "And ...
- 775
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible